Innovation in College Media

Update (9:13 a.m. EDT): CT's list of confirmed dead.

In 1999, I was one day from beginning my job as photographer in the PR department at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth when a gunman opened fire in Wedgwood Baptist Church. Seven people were killed, others injured. One of my co-workers and his family were in the church when the shooting happened. The seminary became the epicenter for news media during the chaos that followed the ordeal, and I was on hand to photograph most of the events following the tragedy itself - funerals, memorial services, press conferences, etc.

Which is just a way of knowing that Virginia Tech won't be the same for a long time. The shooting is over, but the real work of recovery is just beginning. And it's going to be a long, long process. Lots of long days, longer nights, and emotional pain, even for people not directly involved.

I'm personally not in the mood for news analysis, talking about the rise of citizen journalism (go here, here, or here), or other peripheral issues. You can find that elsewhere, start with CampusByline, which has a good list of links (and where I got the ribbon graphic).

And be sure to follow the story through the Collegiate Times, where student journalists are learning the best lessons about the news business through the worst possible events.

Previous coverage: here, here, and here.